Process of obtaining gum from vegetable matter.



UNITED STATES PATENT o FioE,

I EDUARD HEBER, or NEW YORK, NrY. PROCESS OF OBTAINING FROM VEGETABLE MATTER- Matter, of which the ollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to'the-process of extracting gum from vegetable matter, and has for its object to'render the process more ex' peditious and considerably cheaper. The process is particularly adapted to extracting caoutchouc, gutta-pe'rcha, and chicle from trees, shrubs, and vines containing theseurns. The method heretofore used for the different ms from the gum 'elding trees, shrubs, is the following: he material is extracted with solvents, such as toluol, benzol, resin-oil, xylol, &c., and the dissolved gum separated by precipitation or by evaporation of the solvent. A method which has lately been proposed for obtaining the gum from trees, &c., consists in heating the wood with an alkaline solution under pressure. There areserious defects in both of the above-described methods. According to the method first described above resin and other incru stiilg substances of thewood are dissolved, and it is necessary, therefore, 'to resort to an elaborate method of purification in order to isolate purecaoutchouc, gutta-percha, and chicle. Independent of the fact that the solvents required are very difiicult to obtain inlthe countries where the gum producing trees and shrubs grow, the carrying out of this manufacturing method requires a considerable amount of apparatus, which 'makes' the process very expensive. The faults of this process are recognized by the many manufacturers have brought out the second method,-according to which the wood is heated under pressure with causticalkali solutionJ This method is extremely simple, but it is not altogether successful, be-

- cause a complete separation of the'caoutchouc, i -gutta-percha, and chicle from the other-ingredients of the woodis not obtained. This fact can be very plainly seen in a British patent, No. 19,728, issued in the year 1897. Aceording'to the method described there the wood is first treated with caustic-alkali solution in order to swell the woody fiber and then treated with solvents toremove the Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed 'Iarch 3,1906. Sorifl mi. 804,069.

of Newv York, in the county of Patented. June 26, 1906.

gum. If the first art of the invention menaccomplished the entire expensive and diflicult' extraction process in orderto obtain the gum.

4 All the disadvantages of both the methods mentioned above are avoided'by my invention, which shows a way to obtain in a cheap aration of the gums from the other componentsof the wood. Themethod consists in heating the wood with. soap either under pressure or at an ordinary atmospherlc. pressure. Soap solutions, as is .well known,

possess the property of dissolving or emul- Sig-mg caoutchouc, gutta-percha, chicleyand preparing -ot er insoluble hydrocarbons'or their derivativcs.v This peculiarity of soap solution is made use of to effect the directsolutionof the gum and its complete separation from the othercomponents of the wood. Of

course, if desired, the wood ma be subjected to. a preliminary swelling or p umpin process by heating with a caustic-alkali so ution, as described in the British patent, No. 19,728, of the year 1897.

My process which I have described yields a product which can be used without any further purification. In many cases it is preferable, in order to hasten the solution, to

add to the soap solution certain solvents for caoutchouc,"gi1ttapercha, and chicle-such as benzol, toluol, resin-oil, xylol bisulfid of carbon, &c.; but only comparatively very small quantities of these solvents are necessary.

The following examples explain my process:

First, one hundred kilos of the -disinre-.

*- dissolved in one hundred units of water.

Second, one hundred kilos of the dlsmte-v grated wood are heated for several hours from 110 to 165 centigrade in an autoclave with five hundred kilos of an eight-per-cent. soap solution.

Third, one hundred kilos of the d1s1nt e grated wood are heated for several hours in an autoclave with five hundred kilos of a fiveper-cent. soap solution, to which five kilos 5 and easy manner a quick and complete sepof benzol, toluol, xylol, or similar solvent has been added. The soap solution contains the gum either dissolved or suspendedthat is, emulsified. The separation from the remaining constituents of the wood is efiected by filtration, centrifugation, or some similar process. The precipitation of the gum from the filtered or otherwise separated solution is eflected best by standing or by the addition of salt. The working formula must naturally be varied to correspond with the percentage of gum in the different woods treated.

I claim- 7 1. A process for obtaining caoutchouc, gutta-percha .or chicle from the gum-yielding members of the plant kingdom which consists in heating the disintegrated wood at ordinary or bi h pressure with soa solution.

2. Method or obtaining caoutc ouc, ut-

ta-percha or chicle from the gum-yiel ing members of the lant kingdom which consists in heating t e disintegrated wood with table matter is dissolved or emulsified and then separating the other constituents from the gum and precipitating the gum.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 21st day of February, A. D. 1906;

' EDUARD HEBER. Witnesses:

DOROTHY P. FOSTER,

BERTHA A. I'r'rNER. 

